Rainy Nights
by ayumi-nightbeauty
Summary: Rain. Anything can happen under the rain. It can bring back childhood memories. It can make you vulnerable. And it can give you the strengh to confess your true feelings. *Eliwood x Lyndis* /Final ch. up!/
1. I: Illusions under the Rain

**Okay, this is my very first fic of FE and is an EliwoodxLyn, I love that couple.**

**Disclaimer: FE doesn't belong to me, otherwise I'll be rich.**

_**A/N:By the way, english is not my first language, spanish is, I'm from latin america. I have a beta now, ThorHammer17, so I hope there's nothing wrong.**_

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_**"Rainy Nights."**_

_**By 'Ayumi'.**_

_**ºººººººººººººººººººººººººººººº**_

**Chapter one:**

_**"Illusions under the Rain."**_

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Midnight.

It was a rainy night; cold, but very quite and pleasant.

And she couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic, while watching the rain fall from the window of the room that was assigned to her. It reminded her of the home of her youth, the plains of Sacae.

Lyndis sighed. "There's no use on thinking about that... Not now."- she whispered to herself.

The young Lady of Caelin looked at the rain one last time before she lay down on her bed and tried to get some sleep. They were going to set out to Bern first thing in the morning, and Mark was very serious when he said that. So, Lyndis tried, very hard, to get some sleep, but failed. Sitting up in bed, she looked at the rain again, as if it was calling out to her to go out there and feel it, like she used to do back on the plains.

_Oh well... I am not going to get any sleep anyway... May as well do some training in the mean time_, she thought.

Lyndis got up and went to pick up her things. She put on her boots and a cloak, grabbed her Mani Katti, left the room, and went to the backyard of the castle.

After speaking to the Archsage Athos, they were transported to Pherae. Eliwood and company had decided to stay for the night and leave at dawn, thanks to Lyndis and Hector. They had convinced Eliwood, saying that one peaceful night of good rest wouldn't hurt anybody; so the young Lord of Pherae agreed. And there they were, resting, preparing for their long journey to Bern.

Everyone but Lyndis.

The Lady of Caelin was standing in the backyard, in the middle of the rain. And, even though it was cold out, she felt warm inside; she remembered all those times her father sparred with her on rainy nights like this one back in Sacae, even if it wasn't at midnight. He would always say that it was the best way to improve her sword skills and instincts, as well as her senses. After all, you could never know when a bandit would attack, especially on dark nights. Lyndis missed those times. She missed her father... her family and tribe.

The Sacaean girl felt the tears coming, but bit them back. She had promised she wouldn't cry again, but... Lyndis shook her head furiously. No, she wouldn't cry, not now, not ever again.

_I'd better start training. It will be good to clear my mind of these thoughts for a while_, she thought. Then casting one last look at the cloudy sky, she began to train.

While she swung her sword, cutting the enemy in her mind, her thoughts wandered from the training to a certain red-haired Lord of Lycia.

Lyndis stopped suddenly and, slowly, she brought her sword up, so it was right before her eyes.

Eliwood.

He was very important to her. Eliwood had changed her opinion about the Lycian Lords, or any Lord. He was everything but what she used to think about the nobles. He had believed in her when she thought no noble would. He had helped her when she needed it the most.

Lyndis lowered her sword and walked towards a bench nearby; she felt the cloak heavy on her shoulders, so she took it off. Even though it had done a good job by keeping her dry, it didn't matter to her at the moment. She wanted to feel the rain. After a few moments she was soaking wet, but she didn't care... Lyndis wanted to feel close to her father again, even if was just once. She looked up to the sky, feeling the drops land on her face.

Her thoughts wandered once again to Eliwood.

He had helped her not once, but twice. And she was sure that he would do it again if he had to. He was so kind, so selfless, so honorable, so loving, and so... so perfect.

That's why she loved him so much.

_It doesn't matter anyway... He already has someone to love... He already loves somebody else_, she thought, feeling as if her heart had been stabbed.

Lyndis didn't know since when she loved him, but it didn't matter to her. After all, she believed he wouldn't return her feelings. Suddenly, Lyndis felt a hand on her shoulder, making her jump away, a little afraid. The green-haired girl turned around to see who it was, only to find Eliwood smiling sheepishly at her.

"Eliwood... D-don't do that again! You frightened me."- she said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Lyndis."- he said, the smile never leaving his face.

Lyndis shook her head. "It's all right. Don't worry."- she said and turned her gaze towards the sky again.

Eliwood moved to stand by her side. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked in her Sacaean dress; it fitted her perfectly, even more now it was soaked, just like his cloak. He could not deny it; the sacaean girl was indeed beautiful. Her pretty face with those big green eyes, her little nose and her kind and lovely smile; her long green hair and her slender body that, even through the fights, had no scars. To him, everything in her was perfect.

"What were you doing out here?"- he asked, though he knew the answer; he had been watching her from his room before to decide in joining her.

"Oh, not much... I was training and thinking..."

"In the middle of the rain?"

Lyndis laughed a little. "Yeah... I know it sounds odd, but... I used to do it a lot when I was on the plains... The only difference is that in Sacae rainy nights are usually warms."

"Ohh..."- he replied, following her gaze.

There was a moment of silence, where the two of them were, secretly, enjoying being next to each other.

"Lyndis?"

The young woman of Sacae turned to look at Eliwood, who was smiling down at her. "Yes?"- she asked.

"Do you want to spar?"

Lyndis was surprised. "Now?"

Eliwood nodded, smiling playfully. "Yes, now. I always wanted to train in rainy days when I was a child, but my mother wouldn't let me. Now I have my chance and I would like to take it."- he said, waiting for a minute, and then he spoke again. "So? What do you say?"

Lyndis smiled up at him. "Let's go."

They walked to the center of the backyard and began to spar. If she had thought about it, she would have realized that this was a lot like the times she used to spar with her father, but she was too busy having fun.

"You have gotten better since the last time we sparred, Eliwood."- she said, blocking an attack.

Eliwood smiled brightly at her. "I could say the same to you."- he replied.

Neither of them cared for the rain or getting soaked anymore.

Eliwood took off his cloak and prepared to block what would come.

Lyndis grinned and charged at him. Then, suddenly, the lady of Caelin stopped in the middle of her attack. She blinked once, twice, and still couldn't believe her eyes. There, in front of her, was her father, smiling tenderly. The surroundings changed as well; they weren't in the castle anymore, they were in Sacae, in the plains... in their home.

"Daddy..."

Eliwood relaxed his stance when he noticed the strange look on Lyndis' face. "Lyndis?"- he called her, but no answer came.

For a moment, Eliwood could have sworn that he saw pure happiness in her eyes, something not common in her, even if she was a cheerful girl; but soon it was replaced for a mixture of confusion, surprise, sorrow and happiness. He closed the distance between them and stood right in front of her. Lyndis still had that look on her face and it was almost as if she hadn't noticed his presence yet.

The girl dropped her sword, relaxing her stance. To her, the man standing there was not Eliwood, it was her father. She took a step closer to the one she believed her father, reaching out to touch his cheek.

_It can't be..._

Lyndis swallowed hard. "Daddy...?"- she whispered.

However, Eliwood heard her. _Daddy? She... thinks I'm her father...?_, he thought. The redhead felt her soft hand on his cheek and decided he had to talk. "Lyndis? What is it?... What are you talking about?"- he asked, grabbing her hand.

Lyndis jumped slightly, snapping out of her little trance. She blinked a few times, looking at Eliwood confused, not understanding what had happened. A crash of thunder brought her back to reality completely.

"E-Eliwood?... But... How?... You weren't... I was..."- she said, looking around her. "A castle? Where's my...?"

Eliwood dropped his Rapier and took her other hand, giving them a little squeeze. "Lyndis, tell me. What is wrong?"- he asked concerned.

"It can't be..."- she whispered.

"What?... Please, tell me..."

The young Lady looked up at him with a sad and confused expression on her face. "He was here, I swear! And we were back in Sacae, I..."

"Calm down. What are you trying to say? Who is he?"

"My father!!"

With that, Eliwood was even more confused than before. "Your father?"

"Yes, he..."- Lyndis paused, realizing what she was saying; she groaned. "Ohh... Father Sky and Mother Earth, I imagined it everything, it was all in my mind, but... it seemed so real..."- she said, more to herself than to Eliwood.

The young Pheraen Lord grabbed her by her shoulders. "Are you... trying to say that... you saw your...? But... that's not... possible, he is d—... gone..."

Lyndis seemed lost for a while, then she looked at the ground, feeling the oh-so-familiar sorrow. "I... I don't... know..."

"Lyndis..."

Eliwood felt how his heart broke slowly at that moment. The Lady of Caelin wanted to cry and he knew it, but he also knew that he couldn't do anything to change that, even if he wanted to, and he hated to feel so helpless.

"I miss them, Eliwood... I miss my father, my mother... my tribe... so much that it hurts."- he heard her whisper.

Eliwood felt a sudden longing. He longed to be able to bring Lyndis' parents back to life. He knew if he could, he would give all the gold in Pherae and more to make her happy again, truly happy. Eliwood moved his arms around her thin waist, bringing her close to him, so she could rest her head on his chest. It was a good thing he wasn't wearing his armor.

Lyndis tried to suppress a sob, but failed miserably. The bout of sobbing didn't last long, and then she began to cry silently.

The young man tightened his embrace a little, pulling her closer to him; there were only a few millimeters between them.

"Shh... shh... It's okay... It's all right... Just let it out..."- he said, rubbing her back, trying his best to comfort her.

Lyndis buried her face deep in his chest, clutching at his shirt and crying harder; all her confidence and cheerfulness gone.

They stayed there, standing under the rain, for a couple of minutes. Her heartbreaking sobs, the sound of the rain and his comforting words were the only things that were breaking the silence of the night. Lyndis' sobs were dying with every tender word that came out of Eliwood's mouth. After a few moments, her sobs died completely.

"Thank you... Eliwood... I feel so much better now..."- she said weakly, once she stopped crying, and pulled away a little, still not breaking the embrace.

Eliwood smiled down at her, brightly. "You are welcome... Now, we better go back inside; the last thing we need now is to catch a cold, don't you think?"- he said.

The young Sacaean woman blushed and laughed heartily, but slightly. And the young Lycian Lord enjoyed every single moment of it; he just loved her laugh... he loved it when she laughed.

"I guess you are right. We should go inside... and change our clothes, we're soaking wet."- she said, smiling amused.

Her response brought Eliwood back from his daydream. "Yeah... Come on."- he said, grabbing her hand.

They picked their stuff and went inside the castle. Her room was on the second floor, while his was on the third floor. They stopped at the top of the stairs and just stood there for a while, unsure of what to do next.

"Well..."- Lyndis began. "I think here is my stop."

Eliwood nodded and released her hand, not really wanting to let her go.

"Good night... and thanks again, for everything, Eliwood. I really needed a shoulder to cry on..."- she said and began to walk away.

Eliwood watched her go and on a sudden impulse, he went after her. "Lyndis, wait!"- he said, grabbing her arm.

The girl turned around to see him, very confused by his action.

"Ehhh... Hmmm... I..."- he blurted out, blushing furiously. He knew he was probably as red as his hair. "Uhh..."

"What is it?"- she asked.

"Well, ahhh... I was... thinking... Uhh... We are both soaked and since... ehhh... you probably don't have any other... clothes... I thought that maybe you..."- he said.

"Yes?"- she said, trying to encourage him.

"That you... could come up to... my room... I could lend you some dry clothes, so... you won't catch a cold..."- he paused a moment to look at her, then he looked at the wall by his side. "I have a fireplace in my room, you can dry off your clothes there, if you want to..."- he added and waited for her response, feeling more than a little embarrassed. _What will she think of me now?_, he thought.

Lyndis looked at him mesmerized. _He looks so cute when he blushes!_, she thought, she realized she had been staring at him and then blushed slightly herself.

Fortunately, Eliwood didn't seem to notice that. "So, what do you say?"- he asked, breaking the silence that had formed between them, staring intensely at the floor.

The green-haired girl blushed even more. "I... I-I think it is okay..."

Eliwood looked up, not bothering in hide the happy smile on his face. "Really? Is that a yes?"

Lyndis nodded, blushing, if it was possible, even more.

"Let's go, then."- he said, taking her hand.

He liked that warm feeling that he felt every time he held her hand. And, unknown to him, Lyndis felt pretty much the same.

"You know?"- Eliwood began, while they walked to his room. "I was hoping that you would agree to come with me, I... I wanted to talk with you for a while longer."- he told her.

"Uhm... I, actually, wanted to talk... with you for a little while, too."- she admitted.

When they got to his room, Eliwood became quiet all of a sudden.

"Hey, what is—?"- Lyndis couldn't finish her sentence, because a hand shut her up; she looked at him.

The red-haired youth shook his head, leading her into his room. "I'm sorry about that, but... Hector's room is across the hall and I don't want to wake him up or..."- he said, after shutting the door.

"Or he will be here in no time to interrupt us, is that it?"- Lyndis said, smiling.

Eliwood smiled shyly. "Yeah... Uhh... I'll lend you one of my shirts, that should be enough, right?"- he walked towards his closet.

"A shirt will be fine."- she replied, taking off her boots.

Eliwood came back with a shirt in his hands. "Here."- he said, handing her his shirt.

Lyndis took the shirt from his hands, squeezing out a weak thanks. She was about to change her clothes, when an odd feeling made her stop. She looked up to see what was making her feel like that, finding Eliwood staring at her. She blushed a deep shade of red.

"Hmm... Eliwood... Could you...?"- she said, catching his attention.

Eliwood seemed confused at first, but then he realized what he had been doing and he blushed as much as Lyndis. "Oh! I-I am sorry!"- he said embarrassed and turned around. "I'll light up the fireplace... Let me know when you are done."- he walked to the fireplace and started to light up the fire.

Lyndis changed her clothes quickly, not wanting to repeat the little scene; she untied the ribbon holding her hair up, so it would dry off too. When she finished, she walked up to Eliwood and patted his shoulder. "I'm done."- she said quietly.

Eliwood turned around to see her, blushing slightly. He was greeted by a beautiful sight.

She wore one of his white silky-shirts, it came down to the middle of her thighs; her long and beautiful green-hair fell free around her back. To him, Lyndis looked pretty cute and pretty sexy, but mostly sexy and very, very desirable, especially with the slight blush spread across her pretty face.

He stared at her mesmerized. After a few seconds, he snapped out of his trance and stoop up, feeling nervous.

"Uhh... Well... Ahh... Put your clothes close to the fire... I'm going to change."- he said and went to his closet as fast as his legs allowed him. _Calm down, Eliwood, you invited her here to talk, because you want to know more about her, right? You want to know her better_, he thought, pulling a light-blue shirt and a pair of blue pants out of his closet.

He changed his clothes and then went back to Lyndis' side.

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_**To be continued…**_

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**That was it. Please, don't forget your reviews!!**

_**Edit: 08.04.2008**_


	2. II: Getting to know you better Part 1

**Hello, everyone! Here's the second chapter of this fic. I know, I know, it was about time, but I had been so busy with school lately, that I almost had no time left, but now that I finished school and started my vacations, I got a lot of free time.**

_**A/N:By the way, english is not my first language, spanish is, I'm from latin america. I have a beta now, ThorHammer17, so I hope there's nothing wrong.  
**_

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**Chapter two:**** Part one.**

_**"Getting To know you better."**_

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_Previously__…_

_He changed his clothes and then went back to Lyndis' side._

_**ºººº**_

"So, Eliwood... What do you want to talk about?"- she asked.

They were sitting on the floor, in front of the fireplace.

"Well... I wanted to know more about you... I mean, I know that you were born in Sacae and that about a year and a half ago you found out that you were Marquess Caelin granddaughter, and that you have been living with Lord Hausen for a year now... But besides that, I know nothing about you."

"What do you want to know exactly?"

"Hmm... I don't know really... How your life was in Sacae before knowing the true about your mother's family and... before the attack from the bandits... And stuff like that. Of course, only if you want to."

Lyndis seemed deep in thoughts for a moment, then she smiled. "I grew up on the plains... You must know that... My childhood wasn't anything special compared to other Sacaean children. My life when I was a child was pretty normal..."

"_Lyndis! Lyndis, where are you?... Oh, that girl... Lyndis, please, you are going to be late for school!"- said a twenty-five-years-old woman. She had green eyes and brown hair, a slender and beautiful body; anybody could __think she was a noble woman, but that was hardly possible, since no noble would marry a nomad._

_She walked a few steps closer to the woods near her home._

_There was a soft noise coming from the bushes at the woman's side, she turned around and saw a five-years-old girl coming out from them. The girl had green hair, that came down to her shoulders, and a pair of beautiful green eyes; her resemblance with the woman in front of her was enough to know that they were mother and daughter. The little girl giggled and walked up to her mother, the woman smiled down at her._

"_I'm here, mommy."_

_The woman sighed. "Oh, Lyndis, where were you? Your father and I have been looking for you and you were nowhere around the tribe; we got worried."- she said._

"_But I was right there in the woods, I was not too far from the house."- Lyndis said._

"_Oh, Lyndis, I'm even more worried now. How many times have I told you to not go into the woods alone? Something could have happened to you."_

"_But nothing happened and I wasn't alone, I was with the other children of our tribe."_

"_Lyndis, you know that the other children of the Lorca are older than you. They won't be taking care of you if you go with them to the woods, they will take care of themselves. They don't go there to play as you think, they go there to train, to improve their skills with the bow."_

_Lyndis looked at her feet. "I'm sorry..."_

"_It's okay, sweetheart... Just don't do that again. If you want to go to the woods ask your father to go with you."- she said, kneeling in front of her and hugging her daughter._

"_Madelyn?"- they heard a male voice coming from the house._

"_I'm right here, Hassar."- Madelyn said._

_A twenty-eight-years-old man stepped out of the house. He was tall and very handsome, he had green hair, just like the little girl, and gray eyes. He was about to talk again, but stopped when he saw the little girl in the woman's arms. He smiled._

"_So... you found her... Thanks Father Sky..."- Hassar walked close to them, a worried expression on his face._

"_Don't worry, Hassar, she's alright."- Madelyn said, standing up with Lyndis in her arms._

"_That's a relief..."- he then turned to Lyndis. "Now, young lady, we have to go to Bulgar as soon as possible, because you are very late for school."- he said, taking her in his arms._

_Lyndis giggled and nodded._

_The three of them __went to the front of the house._

_Hassar had his horse ready to leave. Hassar kissed his wife gently in the cheek and then mounted his horse carefully, since he had __Lyndis in his arms. He placed his daughter on the horse, in front of him._

"_Please, be careful, Hassar."- Madelyn said._

"_Don't worry, I will. Are you ready, Lyndis?"_

"_Yes, daddy!... Bye, mommy."_

"_Bye, darling."- she said as she watched them rode off._

_Lyndis was a very happy girl. She had everything a child could ask for: a great family and nice friends; though, most of them were from the other tribes of Sacae, since there weren't many children of her age in the Lorca._

"_There you go, honey."- Hassar said, putting the child in the ground._

"_Thanks, daddy!"- Lyndis said and run towards the entrance of the school._

"_I'll come to pick you up!"_

"_Okay!"_

_Lyndis got into her classroom just in time for the lesson._

_She had met most of her childhood friends there, in the school of Bulgar. However, she never had any real close friend, all of them were... just friends. After school, Lyndis and her friends went to a park in the center of Bulgar, near the school. They __usually played their favorite games until their parents went to pick them up. But not everyday._

"_Lyn! Let's go to Mrs. Rashah's house! She promised to tell us a tale today!"- said a boy with black hair and blue eyes, then he began to run._

"_Hey, Monke, wait up!"- Lyndis ran after him._

_There were some days in which the children went to an old lady's house. She lived alone on a little house, at south of Bulgar. Some people said that she was the great-granddaughter of Hannon and that that was why she knew so much of the Eight Legends. Rashah was a kind old lady, she would tell the children all kind of tales and legends. They all listened to her very carefully._

Lyndis paused for a moment, smiling softly at the memory of her childhood.

Eliwood watched her fascinated, listening to every single word that came out of her mouth.

Then, she spoke again. "But, you know? The tale we enjoyed the most was the tale of the Eight Legends... We waited for her to tell us that tale..."

_The kids knocked at the door and waited patiently for the old lady to open it. Then the door opened slowly. "So, you came, kids..."- she said, smiling at the children._

"_Of course we came! We wouldn't waste this chance!"- Monke said._

_There were around seven or eight kids. And they all went in to the house. Rashah sat on a chair, while the kids sat on the floor._

"_Mrs. Rashah, tell us about the Eight Legends!"- Monke said._

"_Yeah! Tell us about The Scouring!"- a boy said._

"_Tell us the Legend of Hannon!"- a girl said and they all agreed with her._

_Lyndis remained quiet. She only wanted her friends to stop talking so that lady Rashah would tell them the tale. Even if she had already heard it like a thousand of times, she didn't get tired of it._

"_Okay, children. Listen now."_

_The children became quiet all of a sudden. And the old lady began._

"_Once upon a time... almost a millennium ago... there was a woman__ who, because she so wanted to protect her homeland -The Plains of Sacae- fought against dragons__, alongside seven others heroes... in a war called The Scouring..."_

_Rashah made a pause to look at the children. They were listening carefully to her. She smiled and then she went on._

"_This woman was Hannon, a young and proud daughter of Sacae... The war lasted many years, many were killed, until, finally, man-kind won and dragon-kind was forced to flee from this world... When the war ended, these eight heroes returned to their homes... Hannon returned to her beloved plains and was greeted with so much affection from her people... From that day on, she was called: Hannon, the horseman."_

"_Wow..."- the children said._

"_It is said that the people of Sacae has been known as the Children of Hannon since then."_

_Lyndis smiled, she knew that they were known as the Children of Hannon, she knew that very well. And meanwhile her friends were fighting over who was the best child of Hannon, she excused herself with the old lady and left. She ran to the school, knowing her father was probably there already._

"I see. Well, that tale is not too different from the one that we tell here in Lycia, they do have something in common. But don't mind me. Go on."- Eliwood said.

Lyndis nodded. "Well... uhmm... I always liked swords, that's the main reason of why most of my friends were boys..."- she laughed a little at that.

_Lyndis watched the __inner garden of her house from the window._

_In a couple of minutes her father would go out to practice with his sword. And as always, she would go o__ut with him to watch him train. Then Hassar took his sword and went outside, Lyndis following close behind._

_As Lyndis watched him practice, she thought how much she wished she could do that; use the sword like her father used it. She always dreamed of the day she would be a swordfighter, just like her father. And maybe, she would be as good as him._

Lyndis snapped out of her memories when she felt a hand in her shoulder.

For a moment there, her eyes had filled with sadness, but after a second it was gone; however, Eliwood did see it.

"When did you start to practice fencing?"

Lyndis smiled at him. "If I remember well, it was at the age of eight..."

_An eight-years-old Lyndis was waiting for her father in __the backyard of their house. He had said he wanted to show her something. So there she was. She had turned eight a few days ago._

_Lyndis was remembering her birthday party, when her father stepped out of the house._

"_Lyndis."- Hassar said._

_The girl looked at him and smiled. "What did you want to show me, daddy?"- she asked._

_Hassar pulled out something from behind him and handed it to his daughter._

_Lyndis watched the object in front of her, not believing her eyes. She took the object in her hands. It was a sword, her first sword. She looked up to his father, no knowing what to say._

"_Daddy..."_

"_It's yours, princess."_

_Lyndis smiled again. "Thank you..."- and she hugged him._

"_You're welcome."- he said. "Well, Lyndis, I am giving you this because I think it's time for you to learn how to use a sword."_

"_Yeah!!"- she said, jumping in excitement._

"_Hassar..."- Madelyn said, walking up to her husband. She had been watching them for a while. "Are you sure it is alright to teach her now?"_

"_I know she is still a child, Madelyn, but... I want her to be able to protect herself... We won't be always by her side, you know that."_

"_Yes..."_

_Hassar turned to Lyndis. "Okay, let us begin."_

_And so, the training began._

_It was difficult at first, Lyndis couldn't keep her hands from shaking nervously. Though, she tried her best to stop her shaking hands, but the nervousness that__ she felt was too much for her._

_Her father waited patiently for her to calm down. And once Lyndis got used to her sword, relaxing completely, the real training began. Hassar __watched his daughter do everything he told her to do, and he smiled._

_Even though it was the first time Lyndis held a real sword, she got used to it really fast. And despite all the mistakes she was __making, they were only normal during her first day of practice._

_Hassar could see she was skilled with the sword._

"_Okay, that's enough for today."- he said, after a few hours._

_Lyndis fell to her knees, panting. "I don't... want to... stop... I can... go on..."- she said._

"_No. You're too tired. We will continue tomorrow, now go clean up and then go to sleep. You need to rest."_

"_But...!"- she tried to protest._

"_Lyndis."_

_The girl frowned and nodded; she stood up and walked towards the house._

_Hassar smiled at his daughter. He knew she would be a great swordfighter, better than the one he could ever be._

"... A few weeks after that he told me that he believed that, one day, I would be a great swordfighter, but... I don't know what to think."- she bowed her head, hiding her face.

Eliwood put a hand in her shoulder. "You are a great swordfighter, Lyndis."- he said, smiling at her. "And a very beautiful one too... And I'm not talking only about your swordplay; you are beautiful in every little way possible."- he added.

Lyndis snapped her head up, looking at him, shocked by his words. "What…?"- she managed to say.

Eliwood didn't realize what he had said, until he saw a slight blush on Lyndis' face; he blushed too. "I… uhh… I…"- he stammered.

The redhead didn't understand what had made him say that, maybe it was because deep down inside he wanted to or maybe not; he could not tell, he wasn't sure of anything at the moment. The only thing he was certain was that he didn't regret saying those words, not one bit.

Lyndis was way too nervous to reply, to say anything at all, so she continued telling him about her life when she was young.

She sighed to calm down a bit. "Well, as I was saying…"

_After that first afternoon of spar__, __Hassar had seen the skill in his daughter, and decided that the speed at which he taught her would depend on the speed at which she learned. __But __over the next few days__, Hassar found himself too busy with __his leadership duties to continue the training__. It wasn't until two weeks later when he, finally, __found enough time to teach his daughter again._

"_Where's Lyndis?"- he asked his wife, while sitting on the couch. He was exhausted, but he had promised his daughter that that day they would begin her training._

_Madelyn looked up to her husband and smiled. "She's in her room."- she replied and continued with what she was doing. She was knitting a new sweater for her little girl. "Do you want me to call her?"- she said, still smiling._

_Hassar nodded. "Yes, please."- he said._

"_Lyndis! Could you come here, please?"- the woman said._

_Lyndis stepped into the living room a moment later. "What is it, mom?"- she asked._

_Hassar stood up. "Go get your sword, you start the real training today."- he said._

"_Yeah!!"- the girl screamed in joy and run towards her room, then she came back ready to train._

"_Be careful, honey."- Madelyn said._

"_Yes, mommy!"- and with that, Lyndis went outside._

_The man sighed. "Oh boy…"- he whispered, then turned to his wife. "Madelyn?"_

"_Yes, Hassar?"_

"_Are you sure you are okay with this? The training and all?"_

"_Why do you ask?"_

"_Well, since you weren't raised like this, so I thought…"- he paused when he saw his wife smiling amused at him. "What?"_

"_Hassar, my love, of course I don't mind that you train Lyndis with swords… I actually think is for the best; she needs to be able to protect herself sometimes."- she stood up and walked towards her beloved, kissing him softly on the lips. "Now, hurry up, Lyndis is waiting for you."_

_Hassar nodded and went outside; he saw his daughter was more than ready to begin and smiled. He began to teach her the basics and told her to do everything he said at a slow rate, so she wouldn't injure herself._

_Madelyn came out of their house after a moment and sat on a trunk nearby, she watched in silence how her child put all her efforts in the practice. The brown-haired woman was very proud of her little daughter, she was certain that Lyndis was going to be a great swordfighte__r and a very beautiful one._

_Hassar, while he instructed the girl, found himself speeding up the pace of the lessons rather quickly; he hadn't expect his daughter to __progress so quickly. He knew she was a quick learner, but he never knew she was __this__ fast._

"_Okay, that's enough, Lyndis."- he said._

_Lyndis fell to her knees, catching her breath. She couldn't even talk, so she just nodded her head._

_Her mother helped her up and took her inside,__ Hassar following close behind._

_Lyndis __cleaned herself up, and then fell asleep the moment she touch her pillow._

_After almost a year, Lyndis had learned everything her father taught her, she was done with the basics, now she only needed to develop her own style; that was the __most difficult part of the training._

_Her father was very happy and very proud of her._

"_Well, princess, I taught you all that I know, now you only have to find your own style and work on it everyday."- Hassar said._

"_But what's wrong with the style that I use now?"_

"_Nothing, really. But is pretty much like my own. I don't mind you using my style, but that's not the point of your training, or else I would have taught you my style instead of the basics."_

"_Oh…"_

"_We will spar every afternoon, starting tomorrow."_

"_Yes, daddy."_

_And as promised, they began to spar every afternoon._

_Each sparring session was more and more difficult to Lyndis, but she didn't mind that. However, what was really difficult to her was to develop her own style with the sword and that frustrated her sometimes, but she knew it would take her some time to develop her style. Lyndis was also aware that she didn't have time to play with her friends anymore, she missed them sometimes, but she wasn't sad at all; it was worth the sacrifice, after all she was doing something she loved and she got to spend some time with her father. He was always so busy most of day._

Lyndis paused for a second. "I never heard my mother complain about the training, she was fine with it. She actually believed it would be helpful, just in case if bandits were to attack me when I was alone."- she said.

"That was very nice of your mother."- Eliwood commented, getting Lyndis' attention.

"Excuse me?"

The young man smiled. "I mean, no noble lady would let her daughter do that kind of stuffs."- he replied.

Lyndis smiled back at him. "That's true, but my mother was not the average noble lady."

Eliwood just nodded.

There was a comfortable silence between them, where they were watching the fire. Neither wanting to break that moment. Lyndis turned to look at Eliwood and found him looking at her, she turned away trying to hide her blush. And not being familiar with what she was feeling, she decided to break the silence.

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**Well, that's for now. See you in the next part of this chapter!!**

**Please, review!!**

_**Edit: 08.04.2008**_


	3. III: Getting to know you better Part 2

**Ok everyone, as i promised, here is the next part of the 2nd chapter. There's only one more part left of this chapter, and we go right into the action!! Next part it's gonna be Eliwood's turn to tell about his life, and after that... well, you'll have to wait. XD.**

_**A/N: By the way, english is not my first language, spanish is, I'm from latin america. I have a beta now, ThorHammer17, so I hope there's nothing wrong.**_

* * *

**Chapter two: Part two.**

_**"Getting To know you better."**_

* * *

_Previously…_

_Eliwood just nodded._

_There was a comfortable silence between them, where they were watching the fire. Neither wanting to break that moment. Lyndis turned to look at Eliwood and found him looking at her, she turned away trying to hide her blush. And not being familiar with what she was feeling, she decided to break the silence._

_**ºººº**_

"Well, uhh… In the next few years, my father corrected me in a couple of things during our sparring sessions, but it wasn't too much. Thanks to his criticism, I was able to perfect the basics… We kept sparring until I was twelve years old…"- she said.

_Today was her birthday and Lyndis couldn't be happier. Everything had gone good for her today, from the moment she woke up to her birthday party. And now, she was waiting for her parents presents, her friends had given her their presents at the party. It was only she and her parents now. Lyndis saw her mother came down with her present, her father came down after her._

"_Well, Lyndis, here's my present."- Madelyn said, handing the present to her daughter._

"_Thanks, mom."- Lyndis said, taking the present. Then, she opened it and saw a beautiful Sacaean dress. It was a short-sleeved blue-green dress, with cuts from the hips to the hem, __trimmed with gold at the hems__. __It allowed for freedom of movement and yet still looked striking.__ "It's beautiful…__ I will cherish this forever__."- she said, holding the dress in front of her._

"_I made sure to leave some room for you to grow, Lyndis. This should fit you for a very long time."_

"_Thank you…"_

"_Well…"- said Hassar, catching his daughter attention. "Here's my present."_

_Lyndis put her dress beside her and took the package from her father. She opened it and saw something unexpected; she took it between her hands, looking at the object, not understanding why it was there. "It's… a bow."- she finally said, looking at her father. "Uhh… Thanks…"_

_Hassar started to laugh, stopping after a while. "You don't know why I gave you that, do you?"- he said._

_Lyndis shook her head._

"_Well, princess, you have already mastered the basics with the sword and you only have to find your own style; and you will find it eventually as you grow older, but I think it's time for you to learn how to use the bow."_

"_But I don't know anything about bows or how to use them, and I don't like them."- Lyndis said._

"_Well, I'm sorry, darling, because, as a nomad, you have to learn how to use bows, like it or not. It's a rule among our people."_

_Lyndis looked at her father feeling a little upset, he knew she didn't like bows, so why was he doing that? And what made it worse, she didn't have anybody to support her statement, since her mother had gone to clean up the house a little, saying she didn't want to leave the work for the next day._

"_But, daddy, I really don't like it…"- she said, trying to change his mind, but to no avail._

"_I'm sorry, Lyndis, but as my daughter, you must know how to use the bow."- he said, standing up. "Your training starts tomorrow."- and he left, not wanting to start a discussion._

_Lyndis sat there for a few more minutes before sighing in defeat. "Fine…"- she murmured._

_And as her father said, the next day began her training, right after school._

_If before her birthday, she trained three hours with the sword, now she only trained one hour. That, of course, was not fair to her, but as her father said: It was necess__ary._

_So, there she was, feeling frustrated, after an hour of trying to hit her target, because she had failed every single attempt, and what upset her the most was that her target wasn't even moving and was no more than twenty meters away from her; pathetic, if you considered who was her father. But it wasn't her fault that she hated bows so much!!_

_And why was that? Well, it was simple, she had had an accident when she was a child, with one of her father's old bows._

_That day she was looking for something to play with, and she saw the old bow, it was under a box in the backyard, it was probably trash to her parents, bu__t she thought she could use it._

_She took it into her little hand__s and tried to take it off from under the box._

_Big mistake._

_She pulled the bow with too much strength (as much strength as a child could have) and the string tied to the bow snapped, hitting the girl's arm __quite__ brutally. That accident left a scar in her arm. The scar was still there, as well as her fear. And from that day on, every time she saw her father practice with his bow, she thought than __at __any moment the string __would __snap as it did that day._

_That's why she hated bows so much. And could __anybody __really blame her? Of course not, the accident wasn't her fault, nor was her fear._

_The rest of the year was pretty much like the first day, except for the fact that every time she hit the target at a certain distance without effort, her father lengthened that distance. The green-haired girl spent that year struggling against her fear and she finally could get over it; she still preferred swords though. At the beginning of the next year, Lyndis could hit an unmoving target at a distance of one hundred meters without effort. So, she was ready to the next step: A moving target._

_Hassar told her that the best way to approve that step was hunting and since there was a forest nearby their house, she would spend two hours hunting, but not any animal, it had to be an inoffensive one, and a rabbit was the best option. So, she began to hunt rabbits, failing miserably at first, since those little beasts were too fast, and that was another reason for her to dislike bows. That was until her father told her the real reason of why he decided she had to hunt to approve the second step._

"_Speed."- Hassar said._

"_Speed?"- the girl asked._

"_Yes, speed."- the man paused for a moment. "Since you're a girl, you don't have a good defense, so you need a good speed, to be faster than your enemies. That's why a asked you to go hunting, because that way, you'll get faster. I suppose that you already know how hard is to catch a rabbit, right?"_

_Lyndis nodded._

"_Have you concluded something?"_

_Lyndis nodded again. "I have to aim a little forward to hit the rabbit, I don't know how much yet, but I think I'm close to hit it."_

"_Good. So, do you understand the meaning of this training?"_

"_I think so."_

_It was rather easy to know the meaning of her training when she was hunting. She needed to be good analyzing the situation, so she could decide which was the best moment to hit that stupid rabbit (or any target that she might have in the future), and that moment was when the animal was looking for food. She didn't like the idea of killing the poor (and stupid) animal, so her father said that __if__ she could bring the beast home alive, she could released later._

"I was useless with a bow when the target was moving, I still am. A total failure."- Lyndis said, cutting her little tale.

"Well, I don't think that's a bad thing. I mean, we can't be good at everything, right?"- Eliwood said, smiling charmingly.

Lyndis blushed slightly.

"Say, Lyndis, when did you meet Florina?"

"If I remember well, it was that same year, during one of my hunting sessions; I had just turned thirteen…"

_Lyndis was walking through the woods, looking for any sign that there would be a rabbit nearby. She had been walking for an hour and she was starting to get upset, even so, she kept walking, murmuring things like 'Stupid rabbits'. Finally, she saw a rabbit and the animal was eating, which was great, because that meant she would be back in her home sooner than she expected. She got closer to the little beast, carefully, and stopped when she thought she was at a good distance. She aimed the arrow at the animal and, narrowing her eyes, hearing only the wind, she prepared to let go of it, when…_

"_AHHHHH!!"_

… _Someone let out a frightening scream._

_Lyndis lost her balance and fell back, letting go of the arrow, which hit a tree. Her heart was beating faster than ever, that had been a hell of a scare. She looked at the rabbit, but the animal was far away from her. She stood up and started to walk in the direction where that scream had come from._

_It had definitely bee__n a girl, she was sure of that._

_She arrived to the right place in a few minutes and all she could see was something white, as she got closer she realized that the white thing was a Pegasus. Lyndis looked up from the Pegasus and kept moving up her eyes, until sh__e saw the origin of the scream.There, before her eyes, was an orchid-haired girl, who was probably no more than twelve years old; she noted, too, that the girl needed some help, since she was in a very… complicated… situation…_

"Florina?"- the red-haired young man asked.

The Lady of Caelin could only nod with a little smile.

"What had happened to her?"

Lyndis smiled a little ashamed. "Sorry, but I can't tell you that, I promised to her I wouldn't tell a soul."

Eliwood smiled too. "It's okay, go on."

"All right…"

_Lyndis helped the girl with her problem and stayed with her for a few minutes, because she could see that the girl was way too afraid to be left on her own at the moment. They sat under a tree for a while, not saying a word. Until the girl broke the silence._

"_Thank you for your help… I really don't know what I'd had done without it…"- she whispered._

_Lyndis smiled. "Oh, don't worry, it was nothing."- she said, then she extended her hand to the girl. "I'm Lyn, nice to meet you."_

_The girl smiled too. "I'm Florina, nice to meet you too."- she replied._

"_Well… I suppose that I should keep on with my hunting, but… I really don't feel like going after a stupid rabbit anymore…"_

_It was then that Florina saw the bow and became nervous. "I-I d-didn't k-know y-you w-were a-an a-archer…"- she murmured._

_Lyndis didn't heard, though she did notice the frighten look on her face. "Hey, are you all right? You look pale…"- she said, noticing were the girl was looking, then she understood. "Oh! No, no, don't worry, I'm not an archer."_

"_Really…?"_

_Lyndis smiled. "Yes, actually, I'm pretty useless with bows. I couldn't shot down anybody with this even if my life depended on it. I do fencing."_

_They stayed there the rest of the afternoon, talking about themselves or anything else that came to their mind. They became friends that same day. Florina told her she was a Pegasus Knight in training, even though she was only ten, and made her promise that she wouldn't tell anyone about the… accident. Lyndis found out about Florina's fear of men at the end of the conversation, though, the orchid-haired girl didn't tell her why._

"_I never thought there were girls that were afraid of men."- Lyndis commented._

_Florina blushed a little embarrassed. "It's difficult to explain…"_

"_It's okay, you don't have to tell me."_

"_Thank you…"_

_Lyndis stood up suddenly. "Hey, I have an idea!"- she said, looking at the girl next to her. "Since you are training to become a Pegasus Knight, why don't you stay with me and my family in the Lorca? It'll be nice. We can help each other with our training and maybe it could help you to overcome to fear of men. What do you say?"_

_Florina smiled. "I'd like to. Thank you for being so kind."_

"_No problem. We're friends now."_

_Florina stood up and went over to her Pegasus, she took the reins and began to walk with Lyndis towards the Lorca tribe._

_Florina stayed with Lyndis and her family for the next four years. During those years, the girls became best friends, almost like sisters. They helped each other with their training, sparring every day. Florina sent letters to her family every week. Then came the day Florina had to return to Ilia. Neither Lyndis, nor Florina wanted to say goodbye, knowing they would meet again, besides they stayed in touch through letters._

_Lyndis finished school the same year Florina left._

_During the next six months, she spent most of her day training with her sword or helping her mother with the duties of their home. Until that terrible night came…_

"The last six months with my parents were very peaceful…"

The room became quiet all of a sudden.

_The last six months with her parents…_, Eliwood thought. He knew she didn't feel comfortable talking about _that_ and he wasn't going to push her to do it. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He said, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Lyndis considered his words, but she also found herself wanting to tell him everything; she smiled slightly. "I… I want to… I need to, but…"

But. There was always that _but_ when it came to the attack to her tribe. She still couldn't talk about it without breaking down. And she wasn't going to break down in front of Eliwood… Not again, anyway.

Eliwood saw the doubt in her eyes and, giving her a reassuring smile, decided to talk. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me anything if you're not ready."

Lyndis smiled weakly at him.

"Well, since I know what happened to you after you met Mark, I could tell you something about me, then."- he said.

"I believe it's only fair."- she smiled and waited patiently for him to star to talk about himself.

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**So, that's it. I hope you liked it! Till next time!**

**Please review!!**

_**Edit: 08.04.2008**_


	4. IV: Getting to know you better Part 3

**Okay, It's been... woah, a year since that last time I updated this fic. I was going through a mayor writter's block, and I hadn't had time to play the game to find my muse again, but, I'm back and I will finish this fic, so don't worry (all of you that read this).**

**FE doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent System.**

_**A/N: By the way, english is not my first language, spanish is, I'm from latin america. I have a beta now, ThorHammer17, so I hope there's nothing wrong.**_

* * *

**Chapter two: Part three.**

_**"Getting t**__**o know you better."**_

* * *

"_Well, since I know what happened to you after you met Mark, I could tell you something about me__ then."- he said._

"_I believe it's only fair."- she smiled and waited patiently for him to start to talk about himself._

_**ºººº**_

"I think I spent most of my first seven years of my childhood in Pherae, except when my parents occasionally had to attend some business out of Lycia, and those times, they would take me with them…"- Eliwood said.

_A four-years-old red-haired child stood outside, in the middle of a big garden, of his castle, waiting for his parents. He watched quietly as the servants prepared everything __for__ the journey. __He and his parents __were going to Bern, to attend some minor business with the King's council (__because__ Pherae was the closest territory to Bern) __as a representative of the Lycian League__. Well, it was really his parents the ones who needed to attend that meeting. They were taking him with them because they just couldn't leave him alone there in the castle. He was happy with that, though; of course, he __knew__ he was going to get bored, but at least he was going to spend time with his __parents__ (not just his mother), just the three of them, as a family._

_And, don't misunderstand him, the young boy loved his life (then again, he was just a child, he was suppose to enjoy it at that age), but he wished that his father could spend more time with him. Because of all the responsibility his father had as a ruler, he couldn't see him as much as he wanted (he spent almost every day with his mother). And he just couldn't wait to be five, because then his father would train him, as he__ had__ promised._

_Eliwood watched as the servants went inside the castle and took advantage of that. He loved animals, ever since he could remember. So he walked close to the horses; because he was a four-year-old child and he was curious about those animals (his mother never let him get too close to them, saying something about been dangerous, but he really didn't care; to him animals were sweet and harmless) and he wanted to touch them._

_He should have known better._

_The young red-haired child stopped right next to a horse, a black horse, that wasn't tied up to the carriage; the animal was eating quietly. The boy tiptoed to catch the reins and, as soon as his little hands held onto it, he pulled, hard. And the horse freaked out. The animal started to move wildly, pulling on the reins and lifting young Eliwood up in the process. After a few shakes of its head, the horse managed to break free of the child's grasp._

_Eliwood flew backwards a few meters before he hit the ground. He looked up to see the wild animal squeal angrily, while it moved around, trying to loosen up the ties that kept it from getting close to him; the same ties that were giving into the strength of the horse. The young boy tried to move, to run away from the damned beast, but he was frozen on the spot; he was terrified, his little body shaking in fear of being hit._

_Never before had he been so afraid of an animal._

_A maid that had walked out into the garden screamed the moment she saw the __child __hit the ground. The soldiers that were around the place started to run towards the child in order to prevent the horse hit him, but they weren't fast enough._

"_Lord Eliwood!! Get away from there!!"_

_The red-haired boy snapped back to reality and, as fast as he could, he stood up and began to run towards the castle, hoping to reach it before the horse could reach him. He made the mistake of looking back and he tripped with a rock, falling into the dirt._

_The horse let out an angry squeal, pulling hard on the reins and the ties finally gave in._

_The soldiers saw in horror how the beast began to run towards the young lord and, in an attempt to stop it, they attacked it, but that only made things worse. Suddenly, they saw a flash of green and orange, and seconds later they realized it was two of the strongest knight of Pherae: General Marcus and Captain Harken._

_The two knights were at Eliwood's side in mere seconds; Marcus was trying to calm the horse, while he pulled on the reins to prevent it from getting any closer the young lord, and Harken was blocking the hits of its paws with his sword, putting himself in front of the child. Marcus managed to moved the horse away from the young captain, aware that his sword wouldn't have resisted too much._

_The blond young men turned around to examine the boy. "Are you harmed, Lord Eliwood?"_

_The four-years-old boy began to tremble lightly, suppressing the sobs that were attempting to come out, still too afraid to talk._

_It was at that moment that Lord Elbert and Lady Eleanora came out into the garden._

"_What was all that noise?"- said the red-haired men._

_Lady Eleanora looked around the garden, until she found what she was looking for. "Oh my… Eliwood!!"- she exclaimed, running to her son._

_Eliwood turned around, running into his mother's warm and protective embrace, clinging to her as if there was no tomorrow; he sobbed softly into her chest._

"_What happened here?"- Lord Elbert, who had run after his wife, asked._

_Harken stood up straight and answered. "It seems that the horse attacked young Lord Eliwood, milord, though I don't know why."_

"_Eliwood?"- he called him._

_The red-haired child looked up at his father, crying even more. "I—I just… wanted to—to play…"_

Eliwood laughed softly at the memory, one of the few memories he could remember clearly of that period of his life. "It took my parents hours to convince me to get into the carriage."- he said. "Certainly, I'm not afraid of them anymore now, but I still prefer to walk, I think it's safer."

There was a moment of silence and then Eliwood spoke again.

"Anyway, my father began to train after my birthday the next year, as he promised…"

_Eliwood stared at his father for a long time, looking confused. "Father… I don't like lances."- he said, after a while._

_Lord Elbert looked shocked at that confession. "You don't?"_

"_No. I wanted you to teach me fencing."_

"_But, son, I only know the basics of fencing and a little more, I—"- he stopped talking the moment he saw his son's sad expression. "Very well, Eliwood, we will do this: I will teach you everything I know about fencing and then you will continue your training with Marcus, is that all right?"_

"_Yes, father!"_

"_And when Marcus thinks you are ready, we will do a special training."_

"_Yes, father!"_

_And so, they began__._

_It was very difficult for Eliwood at first; he was too young and his arms weren't strong enough to handle correctly the sword, but he still did his best. Two years went by before the young lord learned everything he could from his father; he was done with the basics._

"_That's enough, Eliwood, you may rest."_

_Lord Elbert watched his son, as he fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath. He smiled._

"_I'm very proud of you, my son. You've learned everything I taught you, everything I know."_

_Eliwood looked up at his father, feeling confused. "But, father, it took me two years to learn it all; it's way too much time."- he stood up._

"_Not at all, quite on the contrary. You're only seven and you're done with the basics of fencing, you mastered it. Not many people can do that."_

"_So, I'm doing fine?"_

"_You're doing excellent. Now go to your room and rest, tomorrow we begin your sparring seasons to see how you can use what you've learned, plus you start your training with Marcus."_

_The boy smiled brightly and nodded, running inside the castle, towards his room. But just as he was about to enter, he decided to tell his mother the good news; so, turning around, he went to his parents' room._

_The next day he began his training with Marcus, as well as his sparring seasons with his father. Even though he ended up totally exhausted at the end of the day, he didn't complaint: he asked for that and, despite being tired most of the time, he enjoyed it. Especially if it meant he could spent more time with his father, who seemed to be more and more busy with each day. That year went by rather quickly, a little too quickly to Eliwood._

**ººº**

_Eight years old Eliwood looked around the room in hopes to find something to entertain himself, but there was nothing; he was __totally__ bored. Sure there were other kids in the room with him, but he didn't know any of them and they didn't seem to want to be friends with anyone either. The red-haired child sighed. He knew he shouldn't have been so excited about that trip to Ostia._

_All the Lords of Lycia had gathered in Ostia to held the Oath Ritual (whatever that was, Eliwood didn't care much at the moment), as every other year, but that __meeting __had been a little different. They had brought their sons with them in order to teach the children their custom, however, most of the heirs were under the age of ten and too childish to try and make an effort to understand their parents; so, they were to stay in a common room until the ritual was over._

_Eliwood looked discreetly to his right, where a dark-red-haired boy around his age was sitting still, holding the hand of a little girl who was most likely his little sister (they had the same hair color and the girl clung to him like he was her salvation). The young heir of Pherae didn't know if he should talk to him or not, but the boy did not seem friendly. The scowl on his face proved as much, and, in Eliwood's opinion, he was kind of scary._

_Suddenly, a boy, whose name was Erik, Eliwood recalled, Lord Darin's son, stood up and said rather loudly something about how they should do their own oaths and then pulled out a knife from his pocket._

"_We shall follow the warrior customs!"- Erik shouted and he cut his hand._

_Eliwood widened his eyes in mild surprise, not quite believing his eyes. He heard little gasp noises fill the room and then, one by one, the other boys stood up and mimicked Erik, cutting their hands and shaking them with whoever was beside them. He, too, eventually, stood up, but didn't know what to do next._

"_Brother Raymond…"_

_Eliwood looked down at the siblings at his right, as the little girl hugged her brother tighter, looking frightened._

"_Don't worry, Priscilla, just ignore those buffoons."_

_The red-haired boy was going to say something to the siblings, when a tap on his shoulder made him turn around. There stood a boy a little taller than him, but didn't seem to be older, he had blue hair and blue eyes; and his bored expression told Eliwood that he was as entertained as himself at the moment. The boy was pacing his eyes from Eliwood to Erik over and over._

"_Are you Eliwood of Pherae?"- said the boy, finally looking straight at the redhead._

"_Yes."_

"_I'm Hector of Ostia."- he shrugged._

"_Nice to meet you."_

_The two stayed quiet for a few minutes, watching as the other boy kept shaking their bloodied hands with one another, leaving the girls out of the matter, not that the girls would have agreed to do such a thing, they noted. Then, Hector broke the silence._

"_Are you gonna do it?"_

_Eliwood turned to him and then back to its previous position. "I don't know, I suppose we should."_

_Another silence fell between them._

_Hector pulled out a knife from his pocket and held it in between the two of them. "So, do we do it?"_

"_Yes, let's do it."_

_Eliwood waited for Hector to cut his left hand and then he took the knife and cut his as well, wincing as a sharp pain run through his arm. The boys shook their hand and smiled._

"_Friends."- they said._

The Lord of Pherae smiled at the memory; that trip hadn't turned out as bored as he had thought back then. And as he recalled, he realized he had never told anyone about it before.

"Wow, why would you do that?"

Lyndis voice snapped him out of his musings and he turned to her, smiling. "Well, it's an old warrior's custom: each man cuts his hand and shakes it with his brother. It's basically to strengthen bonds."

"Oh."

"Well, where was I…? Oh, yes… After that meeting, when my father and I came back to Pherae…"

_Eliwood waited patiently for his father, he had just finished his sparring session with Marcus, the elder man was resting beside him. Then, he saw his father walking to them, pulling a horse along with him and carrying a lance. Young Eliwood had, suddenly__, a bad feeling about the situation._

_It had been nearly three months since the Lords meeting in Ostia and his father had said, shortly after they arrived, that once he was done with all the pending matters of Pherae, they would begin that special training he promised._

_And that day was the day._

_However__, Eliwood wasn't sure if he wanted to go through it anymore._

"_Uhh… Father?"_

_Lord Elbert smiled and began his explanation. "It's not so difficult, son, this is the basic training of every knight. You are a bright child, Eliwood, so you will have no problem learning how to ride a horse and use a lance."_

"_I will help you, Lord Eliwood."- said Marcus._

_Minutes later, Eliwood was sitting on the horse and trying to stay there, while he paced around the training ground of the castle. Once in a while he would hear his father or Marcus advices, things like 'Don't let the animal feel your fear' or 'Show him who's in charge' were the most common. His little traumatic experience with those animals was buried deep in the back of his head, so he didn't have much difficulty learning, though that didn't change his opinion of riding a horse, he still thought it was safer to walk._

"_Very well, son, now let's do something else."- Lord Elbert handed him the lance and proceeded to explain. "You have seen the recruits training, so you won't have trouble with this. Just charge forward to that pole over there and try to hit the circle drawing in it."_

_Eliwood nodded and positioned the horse a few meters away from the pole. He only had to make the horse run straight ahead and keep the lance in a firm grip, no problem, not at all, he could do it, yes, he could and the faster, the better. His grip tightened around the lance and he urged the horse to run._

_Everything was going fine, he was almost nearing the pole, but then, suddenly, it wasn't him __and__ the horse running towards a pole, it was only the horse making a mad dash towards a very young and very scared miniature of him. He panicked. And the horse felt it, stopping abruptly and squealing angrily. Eliwood flew off the horse, landing a few meters away._

_Lord Elbert and Marcus rushed to the boy's side. Eliwood just stood up and looked at them sadly._

"_I don't think horses like me, father."- the boy said, giving the lance back. "I'm sorry I broke it."_

"_It's all right, son, it seems you aren't fit to lances or horses, but we tried. We'll have to settle for fencing."_

"_Okay."_

"_Marcus, keep practicing with him for now."_

_Marcus nodded, bowing respectfully. "Yes, milord."_

_Lord Elbert nodded and turned to his son. "Eliwood, your mother and I were planning on sending you to school this next month, to Ostia, so you met other noble children and make some acquaintances. I want you to think about it, all right?"_

"_Yes, father."_

_Later that day, Eliwood accepted his parents proposal, it was better than staying there and having particular professors, and a month later he was on his way to Ostia, ready to begin a new stage of his life. Though he really wasn't much excited about it, but what nine-years-old child would be excited about school? They mostly preferred to learn how to fight._

"Going to Ostia proved to be more fun that I thought it would. And Hector was there, so I already had a friend to spend my free time with. We were taught a lot of things, but mostly they taught us how to handle a real battle."

Lyndis nodded when he turned to look at her, saying that she was listening.

Eliwood looked back at the fireplace. "They also helped us to find our own fighting style and master it. I tried to keep my style as similar to my father's as I could."

"Well, I can't say anything about that, I never saw your father fight, but I guess I suspected something like that, since your style isn't like any of the knights of Pherae."- Lyndis commented.

The Pheraean Lord smiled and continued talking. "Well, I spent six year in Ostia, in which my friendship with Hector grew stronger with each year, we were almost like brothers."

"No wonder why you two know so much about each other… Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to interrupt you, again."- she smiled sheepishly.

"It's all right."- Eliwood smile gently at the sight of her blushing. "I don't have much to tell you, now. After I came back from Ostia, I didn't have much to do, besides sparring with my father or Marcus, so my father decided I should go with him to all his meetings concerning political matters of Pherae or Lycia. He said it was so I would become a good ruler."

Lyndis stared at Eliwood for a good while, partially listening to what he was saying now, for she was more interested in how the light of the fire made his red hair shine brighter… and how the flames were reflected in his eyes, his beautiful blue eyes… And for a brief moment, she was tempted to confess her true feeling to him, to open up her heart and soul so he could see everything she kept locked inside, but she fought it back instead. Then, just as she was spacing off, Eliwood voice brought her back to reality.

"My life then became a routine, so monotone and boring, until Hector came up with the idea of going in a camping trip. I was on my way to meet him when we met in Katheleth."

"Yes. I remember that at first I thought you were some kind of a fairytale prince: kind, just and extremely charming, always ready to defeat the bad guys and rescue the princess."

They laughed at that, both remembering that fateful day.

Eliwood smiled and took a deep breath. "Yes. But you became very wary of me after I told you who I was."

"Hmm. I'm sorry for that, but I had heard only bad about nobles up to that point, and my recent meeting with Marquess Araphen showed the rumors to be true, so I thought you were just another spoiled lord."- she smiled sheepishly again. "But I was wrong, you broke every concept I had of nobility at the time. And I was happy that you did, because that gave me hope that my grandfather would be like you."

"I'm glad."- he paused a little, and then decided he should finish his tale. "A year after that incident in Katheleth, my father disappeared and… you already know what happened next."

Lyndis nodded solemnly. "Yes…"

The room then fell into a comfortable silence, neither of the two bothering to do a thing about it, both too deep in their own thoughts.

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**To be continued…**

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**So, I'm done with memories. Next chapter will have some action between Eliwood and Lyn, after all the fic is about them and the genre is romance.**

**Please review!!**

_**Edit: 08.04.2008  
**_


	5. V: Loving You

**Only three months this time, that's an improvement, right? Well, I hope you like this one, at least some romance.**

**If you find the characters a bit OOC, it was unintentional, I tried to keep them as much In Character as could, while making them behave like I wanted.**

**Disclaimer: ****FE doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent System.**

_**A/N: By the way, english is not my first language, spanish is, I'm from latin america. I have a beta now, ThorHammer17, so I hope there's nothing wrong.**_

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**Chapter three:**

_**"Loving you**__**."**_

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_The room then fell into a comfortable silence, neither of the two bothering to do a thing about it, both too deep in their own thoughts._

**ººººººººº  
**

Eliwood stole occasional glances at the girl besides him, wondering if he should take this opportunity to confess his true feelings for her. No matter how much he wanted to tell her, the possibility of being rejected always stopped him.

_What if she doesn't feel the same?_, he thought.

Lyndis' train of thought wasn't much different from his. She wished to tell him how she really felt for him, but she couldn't, for she was certain she would be rejected.

_I don't want him to feel guilty for not returning my feelings_, she thought.

While she had been thinking, she had let her guard down for a few moments, her confident and cheerful façade had fell, letting her face show the sadness she felt at the moment. And it wasn't until Eliwood called her name that she became fully aware of her carelessness.

"Lyndis, what's wrong?"- he asked, concerned.

"W-what are you talking about?"

Eliwood grabbed her hand, sending a shiver through her body.

"For a moment there you looked very… somber and hurt, as if you were going through a lot of pain. What's wrong?"

Lyndis looked at him, feeling troubled. _I can't tell him… I just… can't…_

"Lyn—"

"I'm sorry, Eliwood."

The Pheraean lord was surprised to hear that. "What for?"

"Your father… You don't deserve go through that kind of pain…"

He stayed silent, although admittedly he had nothing to say. He was confused. He knew something was troubling her, something beyond his father's death.

She looked so sad, so… heartbroken… Yes, it had to be something else. But then, why would she lie to him? Didn't she trust him? Weren't they friends? Because no matter how much he wanted them to be something more, how much he wanted her to love him, she only saw him as her friend. And the least he could do was to be a good friend and help her with whatever was troubling her.

Lyndis could feel his gaze on her, but she refused to meet his eyes. Her heart was aching too much, and she was sure that what remained of her confidence would melt if she looked at him, so she focused on the fire.

"_Don't be a fool… You can't tell him… He loves Ninian… If __you tell him, you'll just end up heartbroken… You are just a friend to him, so don't do something foolish… Or can you bear the thought of him rejecting you?"_- chided a little voice at the back of her head.

_No… I could not bear that pain…_

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she closed her eyes thigh, scolding herself mentally, for she was sure she had let her guard down again, for the umpteenth time that night.

"Lyndis?"

"Yes?"- the young woman, turned to look at him, trying to seem cheerful so to not worry him, however she could see clearly the concern in his eyes.

"Please, tell me what it is that's bothering you, because I know it's not my father's death, Lyn."- he rarely called that anymore.

Lyndis resisted the urge to look at him, keeping her eyes locked on the fireplace.

"Let me help you… please…"

"You can't help me."- she whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"There is nothing you can do to help me…"

Eliwood tried to catch her eyes, but to no avail.

"There must be something I could do, anything…"- he moved to kneel in front of her, finally meeting her gaze. "I'll do anything to make you smile, I don't like to see you sad."- he grabbed her hands.

Lyndis looked as though she was about to cry and she averted her gaze again. Why did he have to be so kind? "I can't tell you…"

"What? Why not? Aren't we friends?"

She bit her lower lip.

Friends, only friends, that's what they were.

"That's why I can't tell you, because we are only friends."

Eliwood was surprised and a little confused by her words. What was that suppose to mean?

"I don't think I understand…"- he said.

Lyndis held back her tears, mentally reminding herself not to break down, again, and she turned to look at him. "Can't you see, Eliwood? I can't tell you, because if I do, I'll end up hurting you… You'll feel guilty and that will hurt you… I know it…"

"Lyn, nothing that you do or say will hurt me, really. So, please, tell me what's wrong."

"But it will hurt you!"- Lyndis stood up, walking a few steps away from the fireplace, putting as much distance between them as she could.

Eliwood stood up as well, not knowing what to do; he walked a little closer to her, just within arm's reach.

"Lyndis… it's all right, you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to…"- he said, grabbing her arm softly and pulling her to him slowly, giving her the opportunity to stop him, but she didn't, so he hugged her, trying to comfort her, without much success. "It's all right…"- he whispered, feeling as his shirt began to dampen.

The young Lord was utterly surprised by recent events; he could not have guessed that she could carry so much pain inside, because she was always was the first person to offer a supporting smile to whoever needed it. But if she needed support right now, he would be more than happy to give it to her.

Then, suddenly, Lyndis pulled away from his grasp, looking quite upset.

"Why, Eliwood?"- she began. "Why do you have to be so kind to me?"

Eliwood was confused, but said nothing.

"Why do you have to be so… so perfect?"

"I don't—"

Lyndis cut him off.

"Why can't you be an insensitive fool, so I won't have a reason to love—!!"- she gasped, cutting her sentence, not fully believing that she almost confessed her feelings in a moment of frustration.

Eliwood found himself somewhere in between shocked and utterly confused. "Lyndis…?"

Was she really going to say what he thought she was going to say? Oh, he needed to know.

He tried to search for any sign it would give away what she was thinking, but her expression was blank. Sometimes he wished she would allow him to see through her façade, but Eliwood knew that, in order for that to happen, they needed time. And right now, he didn't have time.

Lyndis turned around and began to pick up her things; her clothes were dry. "Damn you."- she muttered under her breath.

Eliwood, however, heard her, but didn't know if she was talking to him or to herself.

"Hey…"- he tried to touch her shoulder, but she flinched, stepping away; that hurt.

"No, Eliwood… I'm deeply sorry, I shouldn't have said that…"- she said, walking a few more steps away from him. "You have someone else to love and I don't wish to get in the way…"- she whispered very softly.

The young man only caught the last part of her whisper. What did she meant by 'get in the way'? Then, it hit him. She thought he was courting someone else.

"Lyn, wait!"

She was standing by the door already, and looked ready to go. "No, just… forget what I said, okay? It will be better for all of us… Goodnight, Eliwood."- she grasped the door knob.

_It__'s better this way… I'll get over it, eventually._

Eliwood rushed to her side before she could step out of the room, he grabbed her upper arm, stopping her. Very quickly, he spun her around and pulled her close to him, closing the door in the process. He knew what he was about to do was highly improper, but right now he cared very little for what was or wasn't proper.

The young Lady didn't have time to utter a word of protest, for she was silenced by a tender, loving and beautiful kiss. She froze on the spot, not knowing what to do, but then, slowly, she relaxed and leaned into the kiss.

The Lord of Pherae sensed this and allowed his arms to surround her, one of his hands went up to her neck and the other settle itself at her waist, bringing her body closer to his. He pinned her to the door and added a little pressure into the kiss, still very tender and delicate.

The need of air became too much to be ignored and so they parted. They took deep shaky breaths, trying to calm the torrent of sensations inside them; neither daring to open their eyes for fear of seeing a sign of rejection.

It was Eliwood who first decided to open his eyes and face whatever would come. He could only stare at the sight of her: head against the door, tilted backward, mouth slightly open, taking deep breaths, cheeks flushed. For Saint Elimine, she was beautiful.

"Why…"- she whispered and opened her green eyes. "…why did you kiss me, Eliwood?"

There was something about the way she spoke that question that made his heart skip several beats; it demanded and, at the same time, begged for an answer, as if everything depended on it. Unfortunately, he never got his chance to give her said answer.

"You don't love me… so why?"

Everything became clearer after that statement and Eliwood found the answer to his previous question, her unfinished (and half-yelled) question completing itself in his head. She _had_ been about to say what he thought she would. It was not difficult for him to put two and two together and drawn a conclusion. He was almost one hundred percent sure that Lyndis thought he was courting someone, and she probably thought he was in love with this certain someone, too.

_She cannot think that I…_

Eliwood opened his mouth to explain, to tell her she was wrong to think he was courting someone, but what came out was not what either of them expected to hear, not yet anyway.

"But I do love you."

Shock was written all over Lyndis' face and Eliwood felt as shocked as her, neither could believe what had been said. She couldn't believe he felt that way towards her and he couldn't believe he had had the courage to confess.

Emotions were running rampant inside both of them, some foreign and some familiar, all melding together in a strange, beautiful rush. Eliwood did recognize the strongest one, for it was the one he had been feeling ever since he saw her again in Caelin.

It was love.

"You… love me?"

Eliwood smiled at the glimmer of hope he saw in her eyes, that was enough for him to believe she might love him as he wanted.

"Yes, I do love you, very much."

He had said it, he truly had. All she had to do now was follow his lead and tell him exactly how she felt for him.

"Really?"

He hugged her close to him, kissing her forehead tenderly; he could tell she was afraid, though of what, he didn't know. "I wouldn't joke with something like that, you know."

Lyndis nodded.

"Now, come on, let's go back to the fireplace, the temperature is probably dropping."

Eliwood began to lead her back to the fireplace, but Lyndis tugged at his hand, stopping him. He turned around and was greeted by a tender smile, making him blush.

Lyndis resisted the urge to giggle, feeling suddenly as if a weight had been lift off of her shoulders after his confession. It felt good.

"What is it now?"- he asked.

"Nothing… I just… I think it would be better if I went back to my room; dawn will come soon."- she said. "I don't want anyone to worry or jump to conclusions, which will happen if they don't find me in my room by then."

"Ohh…"

Lyndis moved closer to him, pulling herself up to his cheek, she kissed him. All her usual confidence departed for that instant, she felt like a shy little girl. She kissed his lips then, ever so lightly, almost not touching them at all, and pulled away before he could respond.

"Good night, Eliwood, sleep well."

When she turned around, Eliwood's hand moved on its own accord and grabbed her wrist. Lyndis turned around, tilting her head to the side in a questioning manner.

"Stay."- he said. "Stay with me… just for tonight, please…"

Lyndis began to blush slowly when his words started to sink in. "E—excuse me?"

Eliwood, too, blushed once he replayed his words in his mind.

"I—I didn't mean it that way!"- he stammered.

"I think it's… all right, then…"

Eliwood took her hand and lead her back to the fireplace; her things were lying forgotten on the floor next to the door. Once they were all settled, they remained quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying each others' presence, until he broke the silence.

"Lyndis?"

"Yes?"

"May I ask you something?"

Lyndis smiled amused, because he just asked her something, but said nothing and only nodded.

"Well, I really don't know how to say this… but I need to hear it from you to be sure I'm not dreaming any of this…"- he took a deep breath.

Confused, the lady of Caelin opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't say a word when he looked into her eyes.

"Do… do you love me?"

By the look on her face, he knew she was not expecting that question and he almost hated himself for having to ask it, but he knew it was necessary. He really, really, needed to hear it, loud and clear.

"I…"

Lyndis was speechless; he couldn't be seriously asking her that, she had been very obvious with how she felt towards him in the last minutes (probably more than she'd liked it), she had practically screamed it (sure, the confession never leave her lips fully, but Eliwood couldn't be as dense as to not hear it hanging in the air afterwards).

"Eliwood…"

There was a tone of finality in her voice that made him flinch. Oh Elimine, he was wrong. He misunderstood the signs. She didn't love him, she didn't love him, she didn't love him… she _didn't_ love him.

The pain began to crawl under his skin and it must've been showing in his face, for he found himself being engulfed in Lyndis' arms a moment after he acknowledged the throbbing sensation in his heart.

"It's not what you think, Eliwood, I do feel the same as you, really… but, right now, I don't think I can say it…"- she whispered tenderly and somewhat sadly. "I can't quite explain why, but I can't… I will say it, eventually, I promise… but not right now."

The pain ebbed away and Eliwood was inexplicably reminded of the slaughtering of her tribe, the sorrow he felt when his father life came to an end and the heartbreaking sobs that escaped her in the middle of their sparring. And, suddenly, he understood why she couldn't say it at the time, what was holding her back.

So, he smiled, because everything was fine and clear, because he hadn't been misleading himself. And he wasn't going to push her, he could wait until she felt ready, and till that day, Eliwood was going to stay by her side, showing her how much he loved her.

"I understand…"- he said.

_I'll wait as long as you need, because I love you, don't forget that, Lyndis_, he added in his mind.

"Thank you…"

Eliwood kissed her forehead and pulled her into his lap, sliding his arm around her waist and, oh, how good it felt having her in his arms. He smiled when she snuggled up into him and his mind focused on her completely, forgetting just for tonight his worries about the uncertain fate the awaited for them in Bern; tonight, it was just the two of them.

Lyndis breathed deeply, trying to fight the tiredness that washed over her so suddenly; she was emotionally drained from the past several hours. She struggled to keep her eyes open, but the movement of the fire and the soft sound of Eliwood's heart beating, lulled her slowly to sleep.

When the young man felt her relax in his arms, he lowered his gaze to find the young Lady already asleep. A little smile made its way to his lips and he sighed deeply, content to have the woman he loved in his arms. He shifted his position slightly until he was comfortable. He knew that he would cherish that one moment forever.

* * *

_**To be continued…**_

* * *

**Okay, that is all for now. I don't know when will be next chapter, but I'll try to finish it as soon as possible.**

**Your comments are always welcome!!**


	6. VI: Of Duty, Fear, and Love

**Oh, my God... Over a year, ugh, you all probably hate me now, but... excuses, excuses... life in general and lack of inspiration gave me a big mayor writters block this time. I had to play the game all over again to find my muse, luckily I found it...**

**Anyway! Here's chapter 4, 1 more chapter and we're done, this fic's coming to an end! Yeas, folks, we're nearing the end. Woohoo!**

**Now comes the pleading for reviews... blah,blah... Hope you enjoy it!!  
**

**Disclaimer: ****FE doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent System.**

_**A/N: By the way, english is not my first language. I have a beta now, ThorHammer17 (thanks!), so I hope there's nothing wrong.**_

_**

* * *

**_

**Chapter four:**

"**Of Duty, Fear, and Love"**

**

* * *

**

_When the young man felt her relax in his arms, he lowered his gaze to find the young Lady already asleep. A little smile made its way to his lips and he sighed deeply, content to have the woman he loved in his arms. He shifted his position slightly until he was comfortable. He knew that he would cherish that one moment forever._

**.****~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

The rain had stopped long ago.

Mark woke up at dawn, as usual. After getting ready to set off, he walked through the corridors of the castle until he got to the gardens, and he was greeted by a very familiar sight.

There were a few members of the party, the most responsible ones.

There was Kent, who was feeding his and Sain's horse. Besides him, a very lethargic Sain leaned on his horse; he seemed to be sleeping.

Then there was Fiora, who was preparing everything for their journey to Bern —_she was done feeding her Pegasus_—. Besides her, Florina was feeding Huey, or rather, trying to do so, because she seemed about to fall asleep right there were she was.

Mark spotted Marcus and Lowen not far from them, along with other member of their army who he could not make out from the distance.

He smirked and walked up to the first group he saw.

"You know, guys, you could let them sleep a while longer," he said to the Crimson Knight and the eldest Pegasus sister.

Both Kent and Fiora turned around to greet him.

"Good morning, Mark," they said.

"Good morning," Mark replied, then he looked back at Sain and Florina. "And as I said before, you should let them sleep a while longer. We won't be setting out to Bern until everyone's up, which won't happen any time soon."

Fiora laughed a little at the comment, and so did Kent.

"That might be true, but it is our duty to get everything ready for the journey. Besides, as a proud knight of Caelin, Sain can handle it."

Sain only groaned in response.

Mark laughed a little. "Very well, but what about Florina?"

Florina, who was finished feeding Huey, hugged its mane, stifling a yawn. "It's alright, Mark, there is no need to worry… I can…" she yawned, "I can handle it…"

As soon as the last word left her lips, Florina collapsed; fortunately Kent reacted fast enough to catch her before she hit the ground. All of them were confused and a little staggered, even Sain, who had woken up fully the moment Huey had squealed. As they took a closer look at the girl, they noticed she was fast asleep.

"Did she get any sleep last night?" Mark asked.

Fiora sighed, shaking her head slowly. "I don't really know. We all had separate rooms."

"Uh, that's right."

"I'll take her to her room," Kent said.

Fiora nodded, walking ahead of him. "I'll show you where it is."

Kent nodded, following the eldest Pegasus sister into the castle.

Mark watched them go, before turning back to look at Sain, who was starting to get sleepy again.

"Come on, Sain, we need to get this stuff ready for the journey."

His only response was a groan.

**.~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Kent laid Florina down on her bed and stepped back, going to stand by the door.

Fiora pulled the blankets over her little sister and sighed tiredly.

"Is something amiss, Fiora?" Kent inquired.

Fiora nodded and walked outside the room, motioning for him to follow her. Kent did so without complaint and soon they were both walking towards the inner-garden of the castle, where Mark and the rest of the party were.

"I am worried about Florina," the young woman said, suddenly.

The red-haired man turned to look at her, a confused expression plastered on his face. "Why? Is she ill?"

"No, no, her health is very good, but…" Fiora paused, letting loose a frustrated sigh. "She hasn't had a decent night's sleep in days. And lately, she has been having some dreams, but she doesn't want to talk to me about it."

"But, surely, those dreams cannot be that bad," Kent said, trying to reassure her.

"She wakes up two or three time at night," she said.

There was a tense moment of silence, before Fiora spoke again.

"I don't know what to do… Every time she awakes, she looks so… frightened, so… hopeless. I haven't seen her like this since our parents' death and this time it seems I can't do anything to help her."

They stopped walking, standing a few feet away from the gardens. Kent looked sadly at her, not knowing what to do, but feeling compelled to comfort her. And for once, he decided to follow his instincts, and hugged her. His sudden gesture took Fiora by surprise, not expecting something like this —_especially after the subject of their last conversation, namely how some of the party seemed to be getting too intimate with someone, even the Lords_— and, though she couldn't explain why, she didn't complain about it. She let herself enjoy it, instead.

Kent pulled her closer to him, and began to stroke her hair in slow motions. "It's alright to worry about Florina, but… you need to worry about yourself too. You haven't slept well, Fiora, I can tell."

"Yes, but—"

"No, no buts. Florina will be fine. She's not a weak child anymore, she can take care of herself. You have seen her on the battlefield."

After a moment of silence, Fiora nodded. "You are right… I guess I was not ready to admit that my sister has finally grown up."

Kent released his hold on her, but didn't move away, letting his right hand rest on her shoulder in an attempt to give her some comfort.

"I know she will tell you, eventually. She probably needs time," he said, earning a grateful smile from his companion; he felt himself blushing and a wave of nervousness swept over him. "Uh… Just promise me you will worry about yourself more often."

"I promise," Fiora said, and in a bold move, she kissed his cheek.

The awkward silence that settled over them gave them enough time to realize that something had definitely changed. It was as if they had crossed an invisible line.

"Fiora…"

"Kent…"

A whisper, and without realizing it, their heads began to close the distance in between. Only a few more inches, and…

"Kent!"

Sain's thundering voice cut short their trip from reality.

The Paladin and the Pegasus Knight jumped as far away as possible, and as fast as their bodies allowed them. Turning around slowly, they saw Sain standing at the end of the hallway, with an amused expression on his face. To them, it was obvious that Sain had been watching them all along before he decided to interrupt. Kent felt utterly frustrated, while Fiora was simply ashamed and a little bit disappointed.

Sain smiled innocently at them. "Mark sent me to come look for you. He was getting worried… What took you so long?"

Kent sent him a deadly glare, without the desired effect.

"That is none of your business," he replied, storming out toward the inner garden.

Fiora sighed and went after Kent, keeping her eyes averted from Sain.

Once the pair was out of hearing distance, Said laughed. The truth was that he hadn't seen anything at all, he had called Kent's name before stepping around the corner; but he just _knew_ something had happened there. Their blush gave them away.

_Oh, our journey is going to be so much more fun now_, Sain thought and then sauntered back to where he came from.

Once he stepped on the grass, Mark was at his side. For someone who has never been trained to fight, he surely was fast.

"Did something happened, Sain?" he asked, motioning towards Kent and Fiora, who were finishing their duties, facing away from each other, and with a light blush on the faces.

Sain couldn't help but smirk. "Oh, something certainly happened, but I didn't see anything."

"Alright…" he replied thoughtfully. "Come on, Sain, we need to get everything ready for our journey."

"As you wish."

Mathew arrived at the garden then, Oswin following him a few minutes after. And one by one, the whole group was up and about, ready to begin the trip. Everyone, except the three Lords and Florina. No one seemed to notice this, save the tactician.

It wasn't uncommon for Hector to wake up late, but… the other two…

"Eliwood and Lyn haven't woken up yet. They are usually up by now," Mark said, more to himself than to someone else.

Sain, however, heard him. "You are right," he said, scanning the surroundings. "They're nowhere around."

Just then, and to everyone's surprise, Hector stepped into the garden, yawing. He wore only his clothes, no armor.

"Wow, is this the end of the world?" Mathew said, earning a few laughs.

Hector turned his sleepy gaze to glare at him. "Very funny, Mathew."

"Well, you can't blame him. We are not used to see you at this time in the morning," Mark said.

Hector yawned again. "I woke up and just couldn't go back to sleep, alright? No big deal, so let it go already."

"Whatever you said, young master," Mathew answered.

Mark laughed a bit, shaking his head. "Hector, go and sleep some more. Since it seems some of you haven't got a good night of rest in a while."

Now, it was Hector's turn to be surprised. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, yes… Now go before I change my mind."

And, for once, Hector did as he was told without complaining.

A maid came out of the castle just as the Ostian lord was leaving, walking up to the tactician. "Breakfast is ready."

Mark smiled, nodding his head. "We'll head in right away. Thank you."

"Sir Mark?" the maid said, just as he was turning to leave.

"Yes?"

The young girl averted her gaze, blushing lightly. "Lady Eleanora wishes to see Lord Eliwood before breakfast…"

"Oh, I believe he is still resting," Mark said, oblivious to the small audience that had gathered behind him.

"Very well, I shall inform her of that," she said, bowing a little before turning around, and heading back into the castle.

Mark spun around, coming face to face with Sain and Serra, who were smiling amused at him.

"What?" he asked, irritated.

"She likes you," they said, stating the obvious fact.

The tactician rolled his eyes annoyed, and turned to the group. "Breakfast's ready, everyone!"

**.~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Hector made his way towards his room slowly, thinking on the main reason for his lack of sleep.

_Argh! What's wrong with me?! Since when do I get so worked up… over a girl no less?!_, he thought.

"But she is cute… very pretty… Too bad she's too shy to talk to me, or any men for that matter," he murmured to himself, "And her flying horse —what's its name?— doesn't make things any easier for me. I guess I'll have to wait for her to approach me, because if I do, she'll probably run away from me, or faint."

Hector sighed as he entered his room and, flopping on the bed, he fell asleep.

**.~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Florina woke up with a start, sitting up quickly. She sighed tiredly once she had calmed down. It had happened again. That blasted dream that just wouldn't leave her alone, and it was always about the same… Although, this time, it didn't scare her —_and that realization made her wake up so brusquely_— she had actually enjoyed it.

_If only he weren't so… crude_, she thought. _If he were a little gentler… maybe I could come up with enough courage to talk to him…_

Florina looked up at the sound of the door opening, watching as her older sister walked in. "Hey, Fiora…"

Fiora smiled. "Are you feeling better now, Florina?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for worrying you."

The older sister shook her head, moving closer to the bed.

"That's alright, it's only normal," she said, sitting next to Florina. "Now, go eat your breakfast, Lord Mark said we are leaving soon. I'll go wake up the lords, and I'll meet you outside."

"I'll go wake them up," Florina said, jumping off the bed, and she was out of the room before her sister could protest.

Fiora laughed softly and stood up, walking out of the room as well. On her way to the main garden, she turned a corner and crashed against somebody wearing armor. Red armor, she noted.

"I'm sorry, milady, I wasn't paying attention—"

"It's okay, Kent."

Only then Kent saw it was her he'd bumped into. "Oh… I'm sorry."

The Pegasus knight was about to keep walking, but a hand prevented her from going much farther.

"Is something the matter, Kent?"

"About what happened earlier…"

"Don't worry, Kent… It… it didn't bother me, really."

And before he could react, she was out of his sight. "It didn't bother me either…"

**.~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Florina watched the wooden door closely. Lord Hector's door. And after several minutes, she still couldn't bring herself to knock.

_Come on, Florina. You're only going to say that breakfast is ready, just that, three words. Nothing to worry about… Okay, breath in… breath out… Here I go._

She raised her hand to knock, but just as she was about to touch the door, it swung open and Hector appeared in front of her, a surprised and sleepy expression adorning his face.

"Florina…"

"L-lord H-hector! I j-just wa-wanted t-to t-tell you that b-break-fast is read-ready!" she stammered.

_Oh, I made a fool out of myself…_, she thought shamefully.

"Okay, I'll be there in a second," Hector said.

Florina nodded and turned to walk away, fighting the blush that covered her face completely.

"Florina, wait!"

She froze at the sound of his voice, and barely managed to reply with a weak, "Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you something," Hector said.

Florina nodded and turned around slowly, only to jump a little when she noticed that the blue-haired man was closer than before.

"Are you afraid of me?" he finally asked, but didn't let her answer. "Wait, don't answer that, it quite obvious you're afraid of men in general… What I meant to say is… Why is it that you only seem to run away from _me_? Am I that scary to you?"

Florina tilted her head to one side, looking confused. "I d-don't think I… un-understand, Lord Hector."

She mentally patted herself on the back for not stuttering so much this time, but her satisfaction didn't last long, for at that very moment, Lord Hector decided to get closer to her. Every step he gave forward, she gave one backward in response. They continued like this until her back touched the opposite wall of the hall. She was trapped, and although Hector wasn't pinning her to the wall, he could do it without effort, it was the fact of having him so very close that made her feel trapped. Plus, she had never been this close to a man before.

_And he isn't just any man_, she thought.

"I'm asking you this because every time I try to talk to you, you either faint or, as I said before, run away."

Florina didn't reply, not that she had anything to say, but it was mainly because she was suffocating. _Breath, Florina, breath…_

"I've seen you talking with some of the guys in our party, like Kent or Mark. You keep your distance, of course, but… there's still the fact that you _talk_ to them," Hector paused a second. "Why is that? Do you see me as a monster or something? An insensitive jerk maybe? What is it about me that makes you so frightened?"

He waited for an answer, but it never came. So he closed the remaining distance between them, and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Look at me, Florina. Why?" he said, waiting a little more, and then sighed, letting his hands hang at his side.

Florina relaxed a little, only to tense up again when Hector grabbed her hand.

"Did I do or say something for you to be this much afraid of me?" he asked softly, and then remained silent.

The orchid-haired girl breathed deeply, to calm her nerves, and finally responded to him. "It is not w-what you think, L-lord Hector…"

Her whisper was soft, but clear enough for him to hear.

"Then what is it?" he asked, looking her in the eye.

Florina bit her lower lip, and summoning all her courage, she answered. "I… You are not a… monster or an… in-insensitive jerk, Lord Hector… I do not think of y-you that w-way… You are v-very kind and you c-care for your f-friends in your o-own unique way. I think you are a very t-trustful and ho-honorable m-man… And… and…"

"And?"

"I-I like you!" she said, and shut her eyes in fear of his reaction.

Hector was, to say at least, surprised.

_She likes me? __**Florina**__ likes __**me**__, above everyone else?_, he thought, finding himself lacking words to respond. He didn't know what to say, no, wait, he knew exactly what to say, he just didn't know how.

Florina took his silence the wrong way, and she felt the sting of tears begin to form in her eyes. _Oh, no… He's… he's going to reject me, I don't…_, she thought, panicking, looking for a way to get out of there; she didn't want to hear his answer! Her internal self bit its lip and closed its eyes.

"I… kind of… No, wait… I like you, too," Hector muttered, never having felt this nervous and vulnerable before.

When he caught sight of her reaction, he frowned. "Hey, you don't need to look so surprised."

"So-sorry…" Florina blushed profusely, knowing she probably was a red as Kent's armor, if not more.

Hector blushed lightly, hesitating a bit before reaching out to embrace her. However he couldn't even touch her, for someone ruined the moment by coughing loudly behind him. He jumped away from the girl and spun around quickly, feeling very frustrated. There, in front of him, was a maid looking very embarrassed.

"Yes?" he asked, resisting the urge to scowl.

"I am sorry if I interrupted something, milord," the maid said, not seeming to be able to look at the pair without averting her eyes. "Lord Mark sent me to see if everything was alright, and to tell you that they are all ready to go."

Hector sighed. "Thank you. Please tell him we'll be with him in a minute."

The maid nodded and, after giving a little bow, she left without further ado.

Hector hadn't even moved a muscle, when he heard a soft murmur, and by the time he turned to Florina, he found her gone. He smiled, still not quite believing his luck, and walked a few steps down the corridor to Eliwood's room.

"She likes me…"

So immerse he was in his thoughts, he didn't realize the strength with which he knocked —_more like banged_— at the door.

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**To be continued...**

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**That's all for now, next chapter's gonna be up by the end of this month! Yes! And that's a promise.**

**Would it be too much too ask for some feedback, please? :)  
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	7. VII: Just say the words

**Okay, yeah, I lied, but at least I didn't wait a whole year right? XD Yeah... So, this is the last chapter, the end, and I'm quite proud of it. Even though I had to rewrite it from scratch 'cause I didn't like the draft, which is the reason why I couldn't post it before now.**

**Thanks to all of you who didn't give up on this story, it means a lot to me, really.**

**Now, to review begging... Please? Reviews? Even if it to say it's crap?  
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**Disclaimer: ****FE doesn't belong to me, it belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent System.**

_**A/N: Let's thank my beta, ThorHammer17, for being patient and putting up with me.**_

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**Chapter five:**

**"No more holding back, just say the words"**

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**.~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

_So immerse he was in his thoughts, he didn't realize the strength with which he knocked —more like banged— at the door._

**.~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

Eliwood opened his eyes slowly, feeling a little drowsy.

He could hear the usual morning sounds that surrounded the castle, plus the habitual yell from Mark as he gave orders. And some part of him told him that he should be outside helping out, as it was obvious that everybody was up and about.

He yawned, trying to move a little, and suddenly, he became very aware of the female body that was pressed to his side. Frozen on the spot, Eliwood didn't know what to do. He didn't quite remember when he moved to lay the both of them on the bed, but he was definitely positive that he had left a safe distance between them before falling asleep.

_How… how did this happen?_

Eliwood tried to pry her arm off him, his stiff movements becoming more and more awkward by the second. He didn't even get to budge her arm when he felt her stir.

Lyndis moved in her sleep a bit, grabbing Eliwood's shirt in an iron-grip; she snuggled up closer to him and muttered something unintelligible to him.

His tension faded away, and he smiled tenderly at the woman in his arms. _I didn't know… How sweet…_

His hand moved on its own accord, and before he could stop it, it was stroking Lyndis' face gently. His ministrations brought a small smile to her face, making her relax her hold on his shirt a little. And to think that yesterday he could only dream of being with her like this. Now, though, he couldn't fathom the thought of a life where she was not there with him.

There was some noise coming from outside his room, hushed voices, but he paid them no heed. His attention belonged to the green-haired beauty in his arm at the moment.

Eliwood could tell she was having a peaceful slumber —_her expression said it all_— and for a moment he wondered if it was always like this, or if it was just because he was at her side now. Though, his heart wished that she were always happy, a small part of him hoped that her happiness was due to his presence. It was a selfish thought, but he couldn't make it go away.

He kept caressing Lyndis' face for a while, his thoughts wandering to their journey to Bern. He felt Lyndis stir, probably trying to find a comfortable position, and he subconsciously moved to accommodate her, snapping back to reality only when the squirming stopped. Eliwood felt the blush crawl its way across his face when he fully realized the girl's position.

Lyndis was practically on top of him.

_Well, this is not good… I just hope nobody decides to barge into the room now._

As if on cue, there was a loud banging on his door, and Hector's voice reached his ears not long after that.

"_Eliwood!"_

"Oh, no…" he groaned.

Lyndis stirred some more, frowning as the abusing to his door persisted. She snuggled up even closer to him, successfully ending on top of him now, wrapping him in a tight hug.

"_Eliwood! Are you awake yet?"_

"Darn it, Hector…" he said quietly.

Lyndis tightened her embrace, pressing her face into his neck, murmuring something along the lines of, "Go away, Hector" before going back to sleep profoundly. But the knocking persisted, growing louder with each passing second; Lyndis woke up, sitting up on his abdomen while supporting herself by placing her hands on his chest. She sent a deadly glare towards the door, which rather lost its effect due to her sleepy expression.

_"Eliwood? I'm coming in!"_

Eliwood took this moment of distraction as his opportunity and, very gently, pushed the girl aside, listening to the soft thud she made when she landed on the bed, and sprinted towards the door, just as Hector was pushing it open. He managed to prevent Hector from open it fully and from seeing the Princess of Caelin curling into his sheets. He stood there for a few seconds, blocking his friend's view, before he spoke.

"Hector… what is it?"

The blue-haired Lord narrowed his eyes suspiciously as he regarded his friend. "Good morning."

Eliwood smiled sheepishly at him. "Ah, good morning."

"Is something wrong, Eliwood? You look awfully flustered, and…" Hector trailed off, as he tried to look into the room, with little success. "Is there something in your room, that you don't want me to see?"

The Pheraean Lord faltered a bit, searching for an appropriated excuse. "No, why would you think that?"

Hector frowned, sighing in defeat. "No reason, forget it. Anyway, it's time to go, so get ready. Mark is waiting for us outside."

Eliwood nodded, murmuring his thanks, and waited for Hector to leave. After a few moments, the youngest Lord of Ostia seemed to give up and walked away, and Eliwood closed the door with a relieved sigh.

"That was close…"

"What was close…?"

The red-haired man turned around just in time to see Lyndis sitting up on his bed. "Good morning, Lyndis."

"Good morning, Eliwood," she said, smiling lightly at him. "What was all that about?"

"Oh, it was Hector," he said, walking back to the bed. "He came to tell me it was time to leave. So, we should probably hurry up."

Lyndis looked at him for a few moments, before finally processing what he had said and her reaction was instantaneous. She jumped off the bed and ran towards the fireplace, leaving a stunned Eliwood sitting on the mattress. Not wanting to lose one single second, Lyndis picked up her clothes, threw them on a near armchair, and began to unbutton the shirt. Only then did Eliwood reacted to her sudden outburst.

"Ly-Lyn, wait!"

The young woman halted her movements and looked over her shoulder at him, feeling confused, until she realized what she was doing.

"O-oh! I'm sorry!" she stammered, blushing furiously.

She picked up her clothes again, and walked over a wooden panel at one corner of the room, stepping behind it, she began to change her clothes again. Once ready, she went back to the bed's side, and handed Eliwood his shirt.

"Here, this is yours."

Eliwood blushed a little, and passed a hand through his hair, shaking his head slightly. "No, it's fine. You can keep it."

Lyndis looked intently at him for a while, a soft smile gracing her features, and in one smooth movement, she stood on her tiptoes and pressed a gentle kiss to Eliwood's lips before stepping away. Her smile widened and she felt all her energy coming back at once. It seemed that she only needed a good cry to feel better.

"Thank you, Eliwood."

That statement snapped him out of his daze. "Oh, what for?"

"For everything," she said, and went to pick up her things, walking to the door afterwards.

"Oh, well, you're… welcome," he replied.

With one last smile, Lyndis exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Eliwood sighed and hurried to get ready for the journey, half of his mind on the upcoming battle and the other half on the lingering feeling of her lips pressed on his own. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he thought of a life next to the Princess of Caelin. If they survived this war, he was going to enjoy every single day at her side. But that was only if they made it back alive, and it's not that he believed they would fail, but too many dangers were waiting for them in Bern and as far as he knew, anything could happen. So right now, his main focus was to survive, and to protect those who were dear to him.

**.~~~~~~~~~~~~.**

"Finally!" Hector said, collapsing on the bed next to his. "I am so exhausted! After days of traveling and that damned battle today, I'm ready to forget about the world for the next six hours."

Eliwood laughed lightly, but he couldn't agree more. He flopped down on his bed, as his mind replayed the last days of their epic journey.

It had taken them ten days to arrive at the border of Bern, and they would've done it in less time, but Serra had complained about their hastened pace, saying that they could spare a few minutes to rest. And, really, for once nobody protested because it seemed everyone was trying to delay the unavoidable. The uncertainty of their future was something everyone was wary of, and with good reason; it wasn't everyday that you headed head first into an imminent war against Elibe's strongest kingdom, and also against an evil organization that wanted nothing more than to bring back those dark days of The Scouring.

So, it was obvious that they were all exhausted. He could barely move now, his limbs felt too heavy for his liking. Obviously, the traveling would've been nothing for them, having become accustomed to it long ago, but the battle they had to face upon arriving at Bern's border, against the Black Fang's Mad Dog, Linus, drained what little energy they had left. They did, though, learn more about the Black Fang, and that was a big plus.

Eliwood was not only tired, but also a little agitated.

The battle left him feeling shaky, and extremely aware of the constant danger looming above their heads, because Lyndis was almost killed by a Wyvern Lord she hadn't seen coming, and if Mark hadn't yelled in warning, he knew he wouldn't have reached her in time to protect her from the second strike. In the end, Rebecca saved them both with a very precise shot.

Oh, but he had been so scared. Eliwood didn't think he had let go of her until Serra, Priscilla _and_ Lucius assured him Lyndis would be alright. Even knowing that, he hadn't left her side.

The sound of rain mercilessly hitting the room's window snapped him out of his reverie. With great effort, he stood up and walked over the window, watching the raindrops leave trails down the glass. A lone figure that stood outside caught his attention, and, although it was highly improbable, he was sure he knew who it was. So, with a tired sigh, he grabbed his cloak and left the room.

Once he stepped outside the inn, his suspicions were confirmed. "You shouldn't be here," he began, noting how his interlocutor tensed a bit before relaxing again. "Serra said you had to rest well if you wanted to be alright by tomorrow morning, Lyndis."

Lyndis looked at him over her shoulder and smiled. "I am alright."

Eliwood wasn't convinced at all, the tired look on her face and her soft answer were proof enough she was not well.

"You don't look well."

"It's just… I'm tired."

Her smile became more loving as she turned around to face him, and he wondered what was it about the rain that made her look so vulnerable, so at peace. What was it about the rain that allowed her to be so open with her feelings?

"And I needed to think…" she trailed off.

"Think? About what?"

It was only after he said the words that he realized he was probably prying into her private thoughts, because, really, if she had wanted to talk about it, she'd have done so. But before he could apologize, Lyndis walked up to him and stopped just a few inches apart, resting her head on his shoulder.

"This afternoon…"

He didn't know who moved first, but after that statement they were clutching at each other's cloak for dear life. Funny, how they usually managed to think alike. They stood there, momentary forgetting about the incessant rain pouring over them, just enjoying each other's comforting embrace. After a while, Lyndis breathed deeply and spoke again.

"After my parents died, I promised I'd never take anything for granted…" she began, her words barely audible, as the material of his cloak muffled them. "But recently I've found myself doing just that. I guess that, unconsciously, I expected Mark's strategies to be flawless, I didn't think the rumors about the Black Fang being powerful were true, because, really, Marquess Laus was a lot less trouble than we expected, so…"

Eliwood pulled away, but did not break the embrace, looking into her eyes, and waited for her to continue.

"So… I decided that, since I don't know if I'll be alive after the late battle, I will enjoy our time together as if there was no tomorrow. No more holding back, no more pretending that there is a bright future ahead of us, because we don't know that. I am going to let myself love you with my whole being."

Eliwood swallowed, trying to find the words to reply to her statement, because, while he admitted she was right to be uncertain, he didn't really want to think of a life with no Lyndis in it.

"Yes, but… you don't have to be so pessimistic…"

"I am merely being realistic, Eliwood. We can't be positive that by the end of this war, there'll be no causalities. I don't know if by next week I'll still be alive, and neither do you. Mark is a great strategist, but he is only human as well… So, I just want to spend as much time as possible with the man I love."

Eliwood nodded slowly, understanding her logic, because she was right, for all he knew, he could be death by tomorrow, seeing that he had the whole Black Fang after his neck now. So, why not go along with her plan and enjoy as much as he could his time with her too?

"You are right, Lyndis, we ought to live as if this was our last day on earth. And I, too, am going to enjoy the time spent with you, the woman I love, to its fullest," he said, smiling tenderly at her before pulling her into his chest again. "Also, I'm glad to know you love me as well."

Lyndis pulled back enough to look him in the eyes, a shocked expression on her face. "Of course, Eliwood, I told you that already, not with those precise words, but… The only reason I didn't said it was because I didn't think I'd be able to endure the pain if something happened to you, but now I see that… it would be worth it. Even if our time is limited, it will definitely be worth it."

Eliwood leaned down until their lips met, and couldn't suppress his content sigh when she responded to his kiss immediately. He vowed to do anything in his power to bring her through this war alive, because he was not going to lose her, not if he could help it.

"I love you, Eliwood," Lyndis sighed softly against his lips.

Eliwood smiled.

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**End.**

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**Ahh, that is all. I hope you enjoyed it, regardless of my strikes of laziness...**

**We all know this song, right? Please, review, it help us author to keep on going, since we aren't making any money out of it... yadda, yadda... Honestly, feedback is like cookies to us!  
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